Even in hog country, the license plates with the "SOW" prefix didn't go over too well with some people.
Among them is Rebecca Origer. She says the SOW306 tag that arrived in the mail last month only missed her real weight by nine pounds."I wasn't very appreciative of them," Origer said. "But it's not like they saw me when they sent them out - it's just very coincidental."
In the never-ending search to generate unique combinations of letters and numbers, it just so happened that "SOW" came up when it was time to send Warren County south of Des Moines a new batch of license plates.
The Iowa Transportation Department says unhappy motorists can return the plates for ones with an "SOX" prefix. So far, about 30 of the 800 "SOW" plates issued have been exchanged.
"This is a farming community, so it's not a bad thing for everyone," said Betty Conklin, Warren County treasurer.
The state has approved a swap only once before. That was when Clinton County got the "TUB" plates.